Ghostly Paws (Mystic Notch Cozy Mystery Series)

by Leighann Dobbs

  I chewed on my bottom lip. Two years ago, I probably would have said I didn’t believe in ghosts, but now with Lavinia’s ghost gliding along happily beside me I could hardly say that anymore. Maybe just because I hadn’t experienced magic didn’t mean that it didn’t exist. Maybe I should give more consideration to what Elspeth had said.

  Did magic have something to do with Lavinia’s murder?

  As if reading my mind, Lavinia said, “So, are you making progress finding my murderer? I heard you telling Pepper about the embosser you found behind the library.”

  I glanced over at her. “You were eavesdropping?”

  “Not really. I was just floating around in the back of the store and heard you.”

  I had no idea the ghosts floated around when I couldn’t see them and it kind of creeped me out. “Then you heard about the navy blue fabric?”

  “Yeeees.”

  “I found a navy blue cape in Ophelia Withington’s closet.”

  Lavinia gasped. “You don’t say? A cape? I remember it seemed like the killer was wearing a cape, but I only saw a shadow. So, why didn’t you tell the police and have her arrested?”

  Pandora let out a yowl beside me and Lavinia reached down to pet her, all the while gliding along perfectly beside me without even slowing down.

  “Well, that’s the problem. I can’t really tell them I know about the cape, because I’m pretty sure they won’t believe I talk to ghosts, and if I tell them I just went through her closet they might get mad. I need more proof.” I thought about my visit to the church and how they didn’t have any candles. Lavinia had said she’d been in town early to light a candle … that’s how she saw someone in the library in the first place.

  “Lavinia, you said you were at the church lighting a candle that morning, but I stopped by today and there’s no ca—”

  “Ooops, gotta go.” Lavinia cut me off and then promptly vanished.

  I stared at the empty space where Lavinia’s ghost was just seconds ago. Pandora looked up at me, and I swear she shrugged. Something fishy was going on at the church—why was Lavinia acting so secretive about it? Did it have something to do with her death?

  My house came into view and I noticed clouds had rolled in, turning the sky as ominous as my thoughts. There were too many unanswered questions.

  Why had Lavinia and Ophelia lied about the church? Had Lavinia really been murdered because she just happened across someone stealing the bronzes? And what was all this magic talk Elspeth was spouting?

  I didn’t know the answers to any of these questions, so I turned my thoughts to the one thing I could do—figure out a way to tip Augusta off to the navy blue cape hanging in Ophelia’s closet.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The next morning, I wasn’t any closer to figuring out how to tip Augusta off about the blue cape. Maybe the best course was to tell her I’d seen the fiber on the embosser and then let her know that Ophelia had a blue cape. I didn’t have to mention that Lavinia had told me about a cape or that I’d searched Ophelia’s closets. I could just pretend I’d seen Ophelia wearing it.

  Of course, it would be better if I knew Ophelia’s motive. I made a mental note to check in the library for the bronzes. If one was missing, then all I would need to do would be to find out who had it and I’d have the killer. Hopefully, I would see it in Ophelia’s house. I didn’t recall seeing one on my visit, but I guess if I killed a librarian and stole a valuable bronze, I’d hide it somewhere, too.

  But first, I had to head out to Barry’s and pick up those books. Lavinia’s funeral was in the afternoon and I planned to catalogue some of the books at the store before that, so I threw on my jeans and a pink sweater, then tossed my black wrinkle-free polyester dress, black sheer nylons and pumps into a bag to change into later.

  I usually didn’t bother too much with my hair, but I tried to force the curls into waves that framed my face instead of the unruly red mop it usually arranged itself into. It was, after all, Lavinia’s funeral and I wanted to look halfway decent.

  Pandora and I did our usual morning routine of cat food and corn flakes, then got into the Jeep and headed out to Barry’s.

  The air was crisp, the light blue sky dotted with clouds. The heavy clouds had rolled out after the overnight rain, but at the edge of the horizon it looked like a new storm was coming. As I drove the mountain roads, I noticed the birds and squirrels actively foraging in the woods for nuts and seeds as they usually did before a storm. I kept watch on the sides of the roads for moose or deer. They often crossed the road at this time of morning and an accident with one of them could be fatal for either one of us, so it paid to keep one’s eyes open.

  There weren’t many other cars out this early. I passed Myrna on her way into town, then turned on the road that led higher up into the mountains toward Barry’s. The road was narrow and I noticed a familiar black pick-up truck coming down the other way.

  Whose car was that? I squinted toward it and recognized the head of white hair. Bing Thorndike.

  I raised my hand in a greeting, but he didn’t seem to see me, his eyes focused on the road, which he was traveling down rather fast.

  “I wonder where he’s going?”

  Pandora sneezed and hopped into the back, running to the hatch to stand up and look out the back window.

  A few seconds later, I pulled down the lonely road that led to Barry’s, then drove my Jeep up the gravel driveway and parked in front of his 1800s farm house. Next to the house was a big barn he used as his antique shop. The shop wasn’t open yet, so he’d told me to come right to the house where he was holding the box of books for me.

  I cut the engine, then turned to Pandora, who had hopped back into the passenger seat. “You stay here.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. Then, as I opened my door, she shot out and ran onto Barry’s front porch.

  I slipped out of the Jeep, wincing in surprise as I landed on my bad leg. The pain had been getting much better and I’d almost even forgotten about it, but I must have twisted it or something, because it was throbbing now.

  I rested for a few seconds, stretching my leg and wishing I had some Iced Fire to rub on it, then started toward the porch. A cloud passed over the sun, sending a chill into the air, as I stepped onto the old wooden boards. A light wind kicked up some of fall’s leftover leaves and I watched them swirl around the steps in a circle.

  Barry had put his screen door on already—or still had it on from last summer—I wasn’t sure which. I wrapped my hand around the iron handle, thick with layers of green paint, and pulled it open with a squeak. Raising my fist, I tapped on the wooden door, my heart leaping in my throat when it swung open under the light pressure of my tap.

  “Barry?” I peeked through the crack of the open door, not sure if he meant for me to just walk in.

  He didn’t answer, and I felt the roots of doubt spreading in my stomach.

  “Hello. It’s me, Willa,” I said even louder.

  “Mew!” Pandora looked up at me impatiently then pushed her way through the door, causing it to swing open. She trotted into the living room, sniffed the air, then headed toward the kitchen.

  I stepped inside, my heartbeat drumming in my veins, uncertain of what I would find. The old, wide pine floorboards creaked eerily as I made my way through the living room.

  “Barry, I’m here!” I tried one more time.

  “Meeoww!” Pandora’s howl quickened my pace and I rounded the corner to the kitchen at breakneck speed, my heart leaping in my chest as I skidded to a stop, right before stepping on Barry’s body.

  ***

  “Barry!” I squealed. He didn’t move, and my first thought was how suspicious Striker was going to be when he discovered I’d found another body.

  Then Barry groaned, which scared the crap out of me. Then I realized he wasn’t dead and relief flooded through me. I knelt down beside him on the yellow linoleum floor.

  “Barry, what happened? Are you okay?”

  “W
ha?” Barry tried to push himself up then fell back. He rose up on his elbows and shook his head, looking at me with unfocused eyes.

  I took his hand. “I’m going to call nine-one-one.”

  “No, wait a sec.” His voice was thick, but his eyes seemed to be focusing better. He sat up and rubbed his face with his hands. “What happened?”

  Pandora sniffed his pant legs, then rubbed her face against his hip. He scratched her behind the ears.

  “I have no idea. I came over to get those books and found you here on the floor.” I looked around the old country kitchen. There was a box on the floor with various silver items in it. A silver candlestick, pie server and pitcher sat on the table next to a laptop. Nothing seemed out of place and it didn’t look like there had been a struggle. “Did you pass out?”

  He tilted his head, his eyes narrowed to slits. “You know, I’m not sure. I guess I must have.”

  He struggled to his feet and I helped him into a chair, then sat at the old pine trestle table across from him. Pandora took the opportunity to sniff around the room.

  “Have you ever passed out like that before?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Never.”

  “Does your head hurt? Did you hit it on something?” Or did someone hit him, I wondered.

  Barry touched the back of his head, then the sides. “Nope, doesn’t hurt at all.”

  “We should call nine-one-one and have you checked out.”

  “No. I feel fine now. I’d rather call my doctor and make an appointment.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. Folks up here could be stubborn and I hoped he wasn’t just putting me off. “Well, if you promise you’ll call …”

  “I will.” He looked around the kitchen. “It’s funny—I don’t remember passing out, though.”

  “What do you remember?”

  “I was in here, cataloguing the silver I bought at Dodd’s auction.” Barry gestured to the items in front of them on the table, then a shadow crossed his face. “Wait a minute. Someone came to the door …”

  The hairs on the back of my neck started to tingle and my leg throbbed. I remembered how easily the door had swung open when I arrived. It wasn’t unusual for people to leave their doors unlocked in Mystic Notch, but Barry’s door hadn’t even been shut all the way—almost as if someone had left in a hurry and only loosely closed the door behind them.

  “Who came to the door?”

  “I’m not sure.” Barry’s forehead creased in concentration. “One of the Bates brothers, I think. No, everything is so fuzzy, I might be imagining that.”

  I remembered the way Bing was driving down the road, as if he was in a hurry. “Was it Bing Thorndike?”

  “I don’t think so. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’m not really sure anyone was here at all. I saw Carson Bates at the auction last night and my memory is getting confused.”

  “What was Carson doing at an auction? Surely they already have enough antiques at home.” My mind drifted to the bronzes in the library. The Bates family had so many antiques they could afford to donate them.

  “Apparently, Felicity sold off some stuff at a yard sale and he was looking to get some of it back. Old family heirlooms and such. He was going on about some books, quite insistent. Wanted to know if I’d come across them.”

  “Oh, right. I remember Derek came by the shop wanting to know if I had some old family scrap-books.”

  Barry laughed. “I guess Felicity needs to find clever ways to get at the Bates money. She always was kind of strange. Come to think of it Carson’s kind of strange, too.”

  I nodded in agreement, looking around the room. “You’re not missing anything?”

  Barry glanced around, looked at the silver on the table and in the box. “Nope, everything is here. Now that I think about it, I’m sure no one came … my memory’s just a little screwed up. Anyway, I have that box of books for you over here.” Barry retrieved a cardboard banana box from the pantry.

  I noticed he was steady on his feet and my worry for him started to subside as I peeked into the box, eager to check out the books. An old leather-bound was on the top and my stomach flitted with excitement as I pulled it out.

  Barry frowned at the book, then looked into the box. “That’s strange. I’m sure I put the leather-bound on the bottom. I wanted to surprise you with the best book last.”

  “Oh?” I frowned, only half-hearing him, my attention riveted on the beautifully preserved book. My fingers caressed the soft leather as I carefully opened the front to look at the publishing information. The musty smell of old paper hit my nose and I closed my eyes to breathe it in. I loved that smell.

  Barry pressed his lips together as he thumbed through the books. “Maybe I don’t remember, though. I might have switched them around. I’m not remembering correctly because of passing out.”

  I set the book aside and looked into the box, pulling out some of the books and stacking them on the table.

  “Is there anything good in there?” Barry asked.

  I tapped the leather-bound. “This one is pretty good. It’s not a first edition, but I could probably get a couple hundred for it.”

  “Good. I want to repay you for those silver nut dishes, so I hope there’s something else good in there.”

  I picked some more books out of the box. “There are some great children’s books here and a few classics that are always popular. I’ll have to do some research to see if there are any rare editions, but I’d say I’ll make a pretty penny. What do I owe you?”

  Barry waved his hand in the air. “Forget about it. I only paid a couple of bucks at a yard sale.”

  “You sure? I took the buck from you for the silver dishes.”

  Barry laughed. “You can buy me a coffee next time we see each other at an auction.”

  “Deal.” I pushed up from the table and grabbed the box, hefting it onto my hip. “I hope you’re really feeling okay.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m feeling fine.” Barry wrestled the box away from me. “Let me take this to your car for you.”

  I followed Barry to the front door. Pandora was fervently sniffing the threshold and she looked up at me. “Meow.”

  “Yes, we’re going now,” I said.

  I could have sworn she made a face. “Meeeooow.”

  “What is with your cat?” Barry asked.

  “I have no idea. She’s probably cranky because she misses her soft cat bed.” We crossed the threshold and Pandora gave me what seemed like an exasperated look before following us to the Jeep.

  I took the box and loaded it in the back. Pandora hopped up on the tailgate and made her way to the passenger seat. “Well, thanks for picking these up. If you see any more, feel free to grab them. I’m woefully low on stock.”

  “Will do. You do the same for me. Anything silver at a reasonable price.”

  “Okay.” I hopped into the Jeep and started it up while Barry made his way back into the house.

  I drove toward town, feeling uneasy. Finding Barry lying on the floor had unnerved me. Pandora put a comforting paw on my thigh and I felt my heart surge. Could it be I was really getting attached to the fur ball?

  “Doesn’t it seem odd that a healthy young guy like Barry would pass out for no reason?” I said out loud, then realized no one was in the car except me and Pandora.

  “Mew.” Pandora nodded her head.

  “But, if someone was there, surely Barry would remember. And if they hit him to knock him out, surely he’d feel the lump on his head, wouldn’t he?”

  I snuck a look at Pandora, but she merely gave me a blank stare

  “And why would someone knock him out? It didn’t seem like anything was taken. All his silver was there and the books were all in the box, although he did think the leather book had been moved.”

  “Mew.”

  “But, who would do that?” My mind drifted back to the truck I’d seen racing down the hill. Bing’s truck.

  “Probably just coincidence, right?”
I turned to Pandora.

  “Meow.”

  “I guess it’s a mystery,” I said to Pandora. “Probably has nothing to do with Lavinia’s murder, though, and that’s what I need to focus on today.”

  Pandora let out a string of meow’s and, for a second, I thought it sounded like “you never know.”

  I shut my mouth and focused on the road. Not only was I getting into the bad habit of talking to my cat, but now I thought she was actually answering me. I really did need to get a social life.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I parked in the small parking lot behind my store since I had the box of books to lug inside. I went in through the back and dropped off the books. When I finally got to the front, I could see Cordelia, Hattie and Josiah waiting outside with coffee mugs in their hands. I rushed to open the door for them.

  “I was wondering if you were going to make it today.” Josiah handed me a Styrofoam cup and I practically swooned with gratitude. The happenings out at Barry’s had made me late for my morning caffeine fix.

  “Sorry,” I said in-between sips. “I had to pick up a box of books this morning and it took me longer than I expected.”

  “Oh, that’s no problem,” Cordelia twittered. I noticed she and Hattie were dressed in matching polyester pantsuits—Hattie’s in lemon yellow and Cordelia’s in lime green. They wore the same exact lemon and lime colored blouses underneath the jackets.

  “Well, don’t you ladies look nice,” I said.

  “Thanks,” Cordelia answered for both of them. “Lavinia’s funeral is today, you know.”

  “Yes, I’m going,” I said, my attention captured by a light, misty swirl coming from the end of the biography row. Was it Lavinia listening in again?

  “I imagine most of the town will turn out,” Josiah said. “Everyone knew her from the library.”

  “Where’s Bing?” I asked, suddenly realizing he was missing.

  “Oh, he called this morning,” Josiah answered. “Said he didn’t feel good this morning and not to worry about him if he didn’t show up.”